Time Out, the global media and entertainment brand that inspires and enables people to make the most of the city, today announced the relaunch of the Time Out Hong Kong magazine and that it is taking over the direct management of Time Out Singapore and Time Out Seoul. Both cities have previously been managed by licensing partners and the move is part of Time Out’s strategy to grow its global footprint and its network of owned and operated businesses.
Earlier this year, Time Out started to strengthen its presence in Asia when it added Hong Kong to its network of owned and operated businesses. To complement its well established and popular website at timeout.com/hongkong, its mobile presence and social media channels, the brand will now bring back the Time Out Hong Kong magazine after a few months’ break. The free quarterly magazine will be out on September 13 and will feature expert curation of all the best things happening in the city over the next three months in the areas of food, drink, music, art, theatre, shopping, hotels, travel and more.
With a circulation of 150,000 free copies, the Time Out Hong Kong magazine will be available at high footfall areas and other popular local venues such as restaurants, bars, residential and private clubs, airport lounges, hotels and more spots around the city. For additional reach, Time Out branded distribution teams will hand out free copies to consumers in Center City on September 13. To celebrate the new magazine, Time Out has produced three videos celebrating Hong Kong; they can be viewed at timeout.com/hongkong prior to the distribution.
Tim Webb, MD Commercial Asia of Time Out Digital, is heading up the business in the region. Tim, now based in Singapore, has been with Time Out since 2014 and previously managed relationships with licensing partners in the region; he has been instrumental in developing Time Out’s Asian strategy since he joined the Company and brings a deep understanding of the market with him.
Time Out Hong Kong, Singapore and Seoul will all now be part of Time Out Digital, a business division of Time Out Group. Time Out Group is present in 108 cities in 39 countries and has a global monthly audience reach of 156 million. There are owned and operated businesses, and there are international licensing agreements with partners; when using the licensing model, Time Out Group retains ownership of brand, copyright and content.
It has also been announced today that Time Out and Mongoose Publishing, who previously held the license for Time Out Singapore, have extended their licensing agreement for another five years for Time Out Kuala Lumpur and Time Out Penang.
Christine Petersen, CEO of Time Out Digital, said:“Growing our footprint in Asia shows our dedication to expanding the Time Out brand around the world and to evolving as a digital, transactional business. This provides us with further growth and monetisation opportunities across e-commerce, advertising and Premium Profiles. We are very proud to welcome the teams to Time Out and to continue to help locals and visitors to make the very best of these amazing cities with our curated content and local expertise.”
Tim Webb, MD Commercial, Asia of Time Out Digital commented:“We are really excited about our recent news in Asia and to offer our advertising partners fantastic new opportunities locally as well as globally.
“Since we took over Time Out Hong Kong earlier this year, we have focused on optimising and developing more content on our website and social channels to grow our digital traffic. Bringing back the Time Out Hong Kong magazine will further drive our digital metrics and strengthen our brand awareness. We have seen strong demand from advertisers and it is great to see that they are excited about the opportunities we are offering them to connect with our unique millennial audience.”